Summit Experience

1. My Summit experience has been great. It has been a pleasure working with the Humane Society and working with pets. I enjoyed it a lot.
2. Volunteering will be the most important aspect of Summit that I learned this year. It is nice to volunteer for something but it is nicer when no one is forcing you to do it. It feels so much better to volunteer because you want to and not because you have to. What I learned this year was to volunteer because I wanted to and not being forced by someone.
3. The greatest thing I learned from Summit park is communication and team work. Without these, there is no way for the program to be successful.
4. I think we have made a difference as a Summit group for the Humane Society. We had programs the benefit the Humane Society and we collected more than $300 and raised awareness on campus. That is a big achievement considering that last year we were just bunch of freshmen who are trying to find a place to live in.
5. Without the Summit Leadership program, I would not be able to know and experience how important being a volunteer is in our society.  Many non-profit organizations are out there and are not being funded but are kept alive by volunteers.  Volunteers are very important in keeping non-profit organization alive and helping people.
6. Looking back, I had an awesome experience living with my roommates the first semester. What I would have changed would be to pick a roommate that you can communicate with and the roommate that will care about you. What I have learned from this year is the notion of "temporary friends" as they call it. That would be one thing that I will change. Looking for roommates that can be my friend 10, 20, 30 years down the road and not look at me as a "temporary friend" whom will be talking to me for a year and then forget about me after that. One of my biggest mistake is caring too much for other people and fighting for friends that I thought were good and sincere friends. I would pick the friend who would care and fight for me and be there whenever I need him. The summit started out as myself defending a friend and ending with people that don't care about me. If I had a chance to repeat what happened, I would not change a thing because I am fighting for my friends and principles that I hold dearly and not back out of any challenges ahead of me.
7. My advice for future Summit groups is that know your friends very well. One year as friends is not enough to get you through. Make sure that all your friends can be communicated and will listen to you when you talk unlike other people that has their views set before you even get to talk to them. Make sure that you do all your volunteer hours before it is too late and communication is the key to the success of your group. Without communication lines being open, it is hard to live with them and it is hard to get anything done.